news 2025

Light-on-light scattering is an exotic process with surprising significance for particle physics. Researchers at TU Wien have shown that a previously underestimated effect plays an important role in this process. Usually, light waves can pass through each other without any resistance. According to the laws of electrodynamics, two light beams can exist in the same place without influencing each other; they simply overlap.

Where does the Moon's exosphere come from? A TU Wien study using real lunar rock reveals that the erosive effect of solar wind ions on the Moon has been vastly overestimated. The Moon's surface is continuously bombarded by the solar wind - a stream of electrically charged particles ejected by the Sun.

A research team led by Gregor Weihs has developed a method for the deliberate control of dark excitons in quantum dots. Using chirped laser pulses and a magnetic field, the physicists succeeded in controlling these optically inactive quasiparticles and harnessing their unique properties for the storage and processing of quantum states.

The Medical University of Vienna, under the leadership of Kareem Elsayad from the Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, has been instrumental in the development and publication of the world's first consensus statement on Brillouin scattering microscopy for biomedical applications. The article, published in Nature Photonics, marks a significant step towards standardization and clinical translation of this innovative technology.

Communication with the satellite will be established in the next two weeks An international team of scientists led by Philip Walther from the University of Vienna in Austria built a photonic quantum computer that can survive the harsh environmental conditions of a space mission. For the first time, a quantum processor was integrated into a satellite, that is now orbiting the earth at approximately 550km.

After decades of searching, an exotic new state of matter may finally have been found: An international research team, including the TU Wien, presents compelling evidence. Since the 1970s, scientists have speculated whether materials could exist that exhibit a very particular form of magnetic disorder-so-called quantum spin liquids (QSLs).

Improved thermoelectrics: A research team at TU Wien has demonstrated how electrical current can be generated using "traffic jam of electrons" in certain materials. Electricity can be easily converted into heat - every electric cooker does it. But is the opposite also possible? Can heat be converted into electricity - directly, without a steam turbine or similar detours? Physicist Thomas Seebeck answered this question with a clear 'yes' over 200 years ago.

A new method combines helium droplets with ultrashort laser pulses to initiate chemical processes in a controlled manner. This provides insights into the transfer of energy and charge during the formation of chemical bonds. For the first time, a research team led by Markus Koch from the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has tracked in real time how individual atoms combine to form a cluster and which processes are involved.

A new method combines helium droplets with ultrashort laser pulses to initiate chemical processes in a controlled manner. This provides insights into the transfer of energy and charge during the formation of chemical bonds. For the first time, a research team led by Markus Koch from the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has tracked in real time how individual atoms combine to form a cluster and which processes are involved.

ISTA scientists formalize how amorphous solids learn nontrivial behaviors Can we understand and predict how complex systems learn? Modeling learning in a theoretical framework in disordered solids, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) make surprising findings reminiscent of a Star Trek philosophy.

Quantum effects are often used today for extremely precise measurements. But where is the absolute limit of accuracy? Results from TU Wien and collaborators show that it is better than expected. How can the strange properties of quantum particles be exploited to perform extremely accurate measurements? This question is at the heart of the research field of quantum metrology.

One of the current hot research topics is the combination of two of the most recent technological breakthroughs: machine learning and quantum computing. An experimental study shows that already small-scale quantum computers can boost the performance of machine learning algorithms. This was demonstrated on a photonic quantum processor by an international team of researchers of the University of Vienna.

In a collaboration between TU Wien and FU Berlin, researchers have measured what happens when quantum physical information is lost. This clarifies important connections between thermodynamics, information theory and quantum physics. Heat and information - these are two very different concepts that, at first glance, appear to have nothing to do with each other.

An international team led by Innsbruck quantum physicist Peter Zoller, together with the US company QuEra Computing, has directly observed a gauge field theory similar to models from particle physics in a two-dimensional analog quantum simulator for the first time. The study, published in Nature, opens up new possibilities for research into fundamental physical phenomena.

After years of research into the magnetic dipole moment of muons, theory and experiment have finally been compared with precision - with excellent agreement. One of the major cracks in modern physics may now have been closed: for years, scientists puzzled over why the measured values for the magnetic moment of muons did not match the calculations derived from the generally accepted Standard Model of particle physics.

An innovative combination of methods enables the precise localization of individual atoms in ultrathin materials. A research team from the University of Vienna and TU Wien has successfully embedded individual platinum atoms into an ultrathin material and, for the first time, pinpointed their positions within the lattice with atomic precision.

Scientists led by Hanns-Christoph Nägerl have observed anyons - quasiparticles that differ from the familiar fermions and bosons - in a one-dimensional quantum system for the first time. The results, published in Nature , may contribute to a better understanding of quantum matter and its potential applications.

New insights show universal applicability of carbyne as a sensor For the design of future materials, it is important to understand how the individual atoms inside a material interact with each other quantum mechanically. Previously inexplicable vibrational states between carbon chains (carbyne) and nanotubes have puzzled materials scientists.

Quantum processors: Influencing the trace of 'missing electrons' in spin qubits Amid the race to develop and market practical quantum computers, researchers from the Katsaros group at ISTA pay particular attention to the intriguing physics of special qubits generated in the semiconductor germanium. By harnessing the response of these so-called "hole spin qubits" to magnetic and electric fields, they answer fundamental questions about the physics that could help advance quantum processors.

ISTA scientists present new microscopy method to reconstruct mammalian brain tissue Our brain is a complex organ. Billions of nerve cells are wired in an intricate network, constantly processing signals, enabling us to recall memories or to move our bodies. Making sense of this complicated network requires a precise look into how these nerve cells are arranged and connected.